COLUMBUS, OHIO — More than 30 children are sent to U.S. hospital emergency rooms every day after putting cotton swabs in their ears, according to a new study.

The study, published in the Journal of Pediatrics, found that between 1990 and 2010, 263,000 children in the U.S. were treated for injuries resulting from the misuse of cotton swabs.

Pushing a cotton swab into the ear canal can perforate the eardrum, injure soft tissue, or damage hearing bones. Using cotton swabs can also push wax further into the ear canal and cause it to impact.

Ear injuries like this can cause dizziness, infection, or result in irreversible loss of hearing.

The study’s senior author said it highlighted the “misconception that adults and children need to clean the ear canal in the home setting,” according to Reuters.

Dr. Kris Jatana, a pediatric ear, nose and throat surgeon at Nationwide Children’s Hospital in Columbus, Ohio said: “While cotton-tipped applicators may seem harmless, there are certainly a lot of potential risks to using them to clean the ears.”